Mob Mentality
by TopazCat3
Summary: Black Ghost has decided to try once more to destroy the 00Cyborgs. However, this time around, he has a potentially fatal innovation installed into his newest minions...I know, truly horrible summary, but I promise the story gets better! Really!FINISHED!
1. Default Chapter

_A/N: Wow, my very first ficcy! Anyway, FYI I will have some OCs in this story, but I tried to make them as original as possible. I also will be doing very little romance in this story, if at all. Too much junk to deal with that way, you know?_

_002: Just start the story, okay? I've got things I should be doing back home..._

_Hey, hey, hey! Don't give away the story! Plot wrecker._

_002: rolls eyes Whatever. Stupid egomaniacal author person...Oh, and for the record:   
TopazCat does not own any part of this story, franchised or otherwise. Deal with it.

* * *

A lone fluorescent sputtered in a bare room, casting its harsh glare over the nine humans inside of the tiny room. The depressing scene was eerily quiet, save for a few soft footsteps outside._

"I'm bored! I wanna go see the ghostie again!" The silence was shattered by a small girl, curled up in the corner, clutching a strange metallic robot like doll wearing only a long yellow scarf that matched the ones the humans were wearing(AN: Sound familiar?) to her chest.

"So'm I." A black haired man sitting near her declared, tossing a rubber ball into the air and deftly catching it again. Suddenly, he snatched up the doll, removing one of the thick gloves on his hands. Within seconds, the doll that had been sitting in his large hands was now a living, breathing(albeit metal) miniature person instead.

"And now I'm not." He concluded, a devilish grin on his face as the child set up an earsplitting howl.

"0025, if you don't change that stupid doll back--" began a woman with reddish brown hair that fell to her waist and a pair of oval glasses.

"HE'S JACK!"

"Fine, Jack! I don't care so long as you change it back before we all lose our minds!" The woman snapped, throwing her hands up in the air.

"Really. Can't you go 5 minutes without pissing somebody off?" A brown haired man seated across the room added sharply.

"Fine, fine, fine. I try and make life a little more interesting and look what happens..." The man muttered darkly, roughly grabbing the now-living doll and transforming it back to its former, unmoving shape.

"I don't think we really NEED more excitement in our lives at this point..." The woman retorted.

"Well, I can't stand this room any longer! I need to get out of here!" A girl, no older than 18 shouted suddenly, her golden brown hair swinging about her shoulders as she stood up from the tightly crouched position she had been sitting in.

"God works in mysterious ways. If we wait, opportunity will present itself." A dark skinned man mumbled, a rosary carefully cradled in his hands.

"Pfft. He hasn't been doing much recently, has he?" The girl sniped angrily.

"All of you, just calm down! Like it or not, we don't have a choice about this place. One step outside and they won't hesitate to kill us." A woman with similar features and gloves to the black haired man said, attempting to keep their little group in one piece for the time being.

"0026 is right. They can't keep us here forever, right?" A golden skinned woman decided as the others grumpily settled back into their previous positions.

"I dunno. They've been doing a pretty good job so far..." A man with silvery blond hair and spectacles wondered aloud, placing his head back against the cold steel walls.

"They will come." The dark skinned man prophesied with absolute certainty.

As if on cue, the thick door to the room swung open as a man with spiky dark hair and cold, calculating eyes walked in. His immaculate suit gleamed under the harsh lighting.

"I have a proposition for you all..." The man began, a sinister grin on his face.

* * *

Elsewhere within the cavernous confines of the base, a white cloaked scientist cautiously entered a darkened chamber, looking all about him as he slunk in.

"Ah. Dr. Echigano. You have briefed the newest cyborg experiments?" A deep, disturbing voice sounded in the darkness.

"It is being done as we speak. I have had Captain Sevro take care of it." Dr. Echigano said respectfully, bowing slightly.

"Good. And the nanochips?"

"They seem to be in working order, although we are not certain about Number 0023. Her development had always been the hardest--" Dr. Echigano began, but was cut off as a hand shot out of the gloom and gripped him by the throat.

"I do not care about one insignificant experiment! This is your last attempt at LOYAL cyborg soldiers, and if it fails..!" The voice thundered, tossing the scientist against the back wall of the room as if he had been a rag doll.

"D-don't worry. The neuro-chips will work as promised. The 001-009 Cyborg Series is as good as dead...Black Ghost." Dr. Echigano promised, painfully picking himself up off the floor and quickly backed out of the room as a sinister laugh filled the air.

* * *

_Well? Whadja think? Good? Bad? Tell me, I wanna know! So, just R&R please!_

_002: Don't, it'll just encourage her. Besides, we're not even in this yet! What kind of story is THAT?_

_You'd better watch it, pal. If you're good, then MAYBE you'll be in the next Chapter! Just think of this as a little prologue for now. I promise the OCs willbe formallyintroduced (along with their powers)in the next part, okay?_

_002: Somehow I doubt that._

_Look, just R&R now please! Thanks!_


	2. Chapter 2: Food And Physics

_A/N: Well, glad you guys like it!_

_002: rolls eyes Whatever, so long's you remember you don't own anything._

_I don't! At least, not today. Tomorrow, though, might be different...BTW, please tell me if 006's restaurant is not in Tokyo. I have no idea where it is, so for the sake of convenience, I placed it in Japan._

_mik0021: Glad you like it! I had no idea how people would receive this idea, so it's nice to get a little input every once in a while. _

_kukabura: Thanks! I really hate formulaic OC's, so I tried to make them stand out from the crowd a little. Everyone always seems to use the same templates, which gets really old, really quick. Personally, I think they turned out pretty well!_

* * *

Over in Hong Kong, a pair of obviously foreign men were causing a rather large commotion as they walked aimlessly about.

"Would you knock it off already, Gio?!"

The black haired man looked over at his companion curiously. "What now, 0024--"

"Don't call me that HERE, moron! In the real world, I'm Nick Seldom, NOT 0024! And you know exactly what I mean!" The brown haired man hissed furiously.

"...Oh, you mean the juggling, right?" Gio responded after a moment's thought.

"People are throwing money at us! They think we're street performers!" Nick shot back,  
holding up a coin that had hit him in the back of the head.

"Good! Then we can afford lunch, I'm hungry." Gio decided, oblivious to his partner's rapidly rising temper.

"Look, we're supposed to be looking for a restaurant owned by Cho Chang, a.k.a 006! You know, one of the people we're looking for..? Let's try NOT to attract attention. After all, this IS a kidnaping thing. Stop thinking about your stomach for once and help me, we've been out here for three hours looking for this place!" Nick informed him for the third time that day, trying to resist a growing urge to blow the other cyborg to bits. It was times like this when he really wanted to hurt the weirdos who had done this(and made him work with Gio). But those urges seemed to disappear almost as soon as they'd come, for no good reason. Weird. Oh well, nothing he could do about it, at least for now.

"Don't say it like that! All we do is take the guy back to the place and we're free! Good deal, no?" Gio answered thoughtfully.

"I suppose so..." The cyborg muttered grudgingly.

"Look! There's a place right there, can't we just grab a sandwich or something? I can't work without food!" Gio pleaded.

"You can't work, period." Nick mumbled darkly.

"I'll stop juggling! ..Well, at least for a little bit." Gio bargained hopefully.

"Fine! Whatever, I don't care anymore! Just. Stop. Talking! I suppose I was a little hungry myself anyway..." Nick decided, gathering up the scattered change on the ground as they entered the smallish shop. A tall bald man appeared shortly.

"Oh! Customers!" The man said, clapping his hands together in delight.

"Don't tell me you're closed..!" Nick exclaimed unhappily. If Gio had something to stuff in his face, maybe things would be a little quieter.

"We WERE about to take a little break, but it can wait for a bit." The man told them cheerfully as they took their seats.

"Was it just me, or did he seem familiar to you too?" Nick asked his partner as soon as the stranger had disappeared into the kitchen.

"Long-lost-brother familiar, or old-friend familiar?" Gio inquired curiously.

"Try psycho-cyborg familiar! I'm almost positive that guy's one of the 001-009 Series Cyborgs!" Nick told him excitedly, keeping his voice low.

"Well, only one way to find out for sure." Gio responded, getting up from his chair.

"What do you me--" Nick began suspiciously.

He never got a chance to finish, seeing as how the other cyborg chose that moment to shout 'Hey, 006!' quite loudly in the general direction of the kitchen.

"What are you doing?!" Nick shouted at the same time as Cho Chang himself.

Gio, oblivious to the chaos he had caused, began to collect silverware from the other tables, taking off his gloves as he went. "See? They responded, proving that they're the guys we're looking for. Besides, they match the pictures."

By this time, 007 had come out of the kitchen to see what was going on. With a sigh, Nick got up as well and started to stare at the wall in front of him.

"What--" G.B. began, but was cut off as the wall blew up within seconds, missing the occupants of the room entirely but causing a lot of dust. In the midst of all this, what appeared to be an army of forks marched out of the rubble towards the hapless 006 and 007. Several minutes later, the two were unconscious and ready to take back to Black Ghost.

"An army of cutlery. Only you would have thought silverware made good weaponry." Nick said, shaking his head.

"Hey, you blew up the wall and missed the people." Gio reminded him, hoisting the unconscious men over his shoulder with ease.

"Come on, we'll take the back way so nobody sees us. Everyone's probably waiting for us at the Seabird anyway." Nick decided, slipping through the back door with Gio close behind.

* * *

In another part of the city, a teen girl with brown hair jumped about the streets of Tokyo joyously, followed by an older woman with auburn hair, spectacles and a laptop slung over her shoulder.

"Would you calm down, Tabby? It's only Tokyo." The woman asked her younger friend.

"It could be the Bermuda Triangle for all I care! I'm away from that crappy base for once!" Tabby sang out happily, skipping along the sidewalk.

"We still have to go back to deliver these 'renegade cyborgs', remember?" Her friend reminded her.

"I STILL don't get it. If you ask me, this whole thing seems a little shifty." Tabby said stubbornly, putting her arms behind her head.

"Apparently, the shock from the operation was too much for these guys, so all nine went insane and started killing people. Small wonder they want these people brought back in. I even checked Black Ghost's files, even though I'm not that suspicious unlike some people, and their story checks out." The redhead explained for what felt like the twenty first time that day.

"So they say. So, what do these guys look like again, Tegan?" Tabby asked the other cyborg.

In response, Tegan walked over to a nearby pay phone and leaned against it, her hand on the cord. Although she looked to be resting, Tabby knew her to be using the phone line as a node so she could mentally access the web and check the files. Normally, Tegan would have just used her laptop, but had found this to be a little conspicuous in public. After a minute or so, Tegan straightened up and walked back over to the teenager.

"A New Yorker with bright red hair and a huge nose, and a Japanese man with shorter brown hair and ruby eyes. I think we'll know 'em when we seem 'em." Tegan told her with a sardonic grin.

"Like those two over there?" Tabby pointed to a familiar looking pair of cyborgs in the middle of a crowd of people.

"Told you. Remember, these guys have the Accelerator program, same as us." Tegan reminded the younger cyborg as they both went into Acceleration Mode, but the girl was already rushing after her red-haired quarry.

"Guess I got the Japanese guy." Tegan mumbled to herself, using the top of a tree as a springboard of sorts to land in front of 009.

"How'd you..?" Joe trailed off, temporarily stunned by the approach of this strange woman who was obviously a cyborg. However, most assassins didn't appear in the middle of huge crowds of people.

"I think we both know the answer to that." The woman smirked, lightly laying a hand on the other cyborg's shoulder. Before he could shrug it off, however, he found his legs and arms moving of their own accord. Quickly, he began thinking of a way to escape.

"I wouldn't try that last one, I'd know before you would. Now come on, the Seabird awaits us." The woman grinned oddly, her hand still on his shoulder as they walked along towards the harbor, and incidentally, where Tabby had been heading.

The girl in question had scared Jet off when he noticed her blurry form. He had then started to chase her and both were now in an old warehouse, devoid of any other humans. However, only Tabby knew where the other was. Jet was searching the warehouse for her as she watched.

"Come on out, kid! I know you're in this place somewhere..! This is what I get for coming to visit Joe and the others..." Jet threatened, his voice echoing in the dark and dusty building.

"Up here, genius."

Startled, Jet looked up to see Tabby standing on the ceiling as easily as if it was the floor.

"Hey! Get down here!" Jet called up, trying to mask his surprise.

"Okey-doke." The girl said agreeably, walking down the side of the wall. Then, without warning, she headed off in the opposite direction. Jet gave chase--and slammed straight into a thick wall, knocking him out. Tabby stuck her head out of the middle of the wall curiously.

"I didn't think he'd actually try to follow me through the wall. Oh well, can't be helped." She muttered to herself, dragging the other through one side of the wall and out to where she was to meet the others.

* * *

_The other OC Cyborgs will appear in the next few chapters. Anyway, a quick recap of the four so far:_

_Nick Seldom(0024): Can cause spontaneous combustion whenever he wants.  
Gio DeLuca(0025): Has the ability to bring anything he wants to life Tegan O'Connor(0022): Can mentally access computers or anything else mechanical simply by touching it and going into a trace like state. She has the Accelerator Mode as well.  
Tabitha 'Tabby' Morrow(0023): The laws of physics do not apply to her, letting her walk through walls, stand on the ceiling, etc., etc. She also has the Accelerator Mode._

_R&R please!_


	3. Chapter 3: Little Girls And Gardens

_A/N: I'm so sorry! I've had a lot going on between school and clubs and homework and everything in between! I promise I'll update more regulary after this! Really! I haven't gotten a chance to work on a fic in ages!_

_002: I'll say._

_Nobody asked you. Now keep quiet or I'll bring in one of the other cyborgs..!_

_002: Good! I didn't want to be here in the first place!_

_Oh really? Ok, fine! You'll just stay here then, since you don't want to be here! Fear my mad logic skills, puny mortal! Muhahahahah!_

_002: ...Somehow I think I was better off with Black Ghost..._

_Anyway, I made the battles short mainly because since there are nine OCs to introduce.  
I could've spent more time, but those were really just an intro into the OC characters and their powers. Plus, I figured an army of forks and a bunch of falling rubble would be disconcerting enough to throw off 006 and 007, who are used to more, ah, structured villains. There'll be more action later on in the story though._

_Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, not even a single stock share! Isn't it sad._

* * *

On the other side of the city, a young african man could be found swimming in the local pool. Aside from one other person watching him, he was alone. This was good, since most people didn't wear wetsuits in normal community pools. However, Pyunma and G. Junior were not exactly most people.  
"You'd better hurry if we want to meet up with Dr. Gilmore and the others on time. After all, what good is a visit if we're all off in different places?" Junior rumbled, leaning against the wall.

"Okay, okay. I just needed a little swim, anyway." Pyunma agreed, pulling himself effortlessly out of the water.

Neither noticed a dark haired woman wearing thick gloves, despite the unseasonably warm temperature or the darker man holding a rosary crouched next to her high up on a balcony overlooking the pool.

"Huh. Don't look too crazy to me." The woman commented, looking down on the two cyborgs.

"Careful, Maggie. Things are often much different from what the eye percieves." The man replied in his usual vague manner.

"Don't I know it. Anyway, you all ready, Casper?" Maggie asked her companion more out of habit than need. She knew he could easily expand his lungs large enough to hold his breath for ten whole minutes.

Removing a bottle of water from a leather satchel around her neck, she removed one of her gloves and stuck a finger inside the water. Almost instantly, a thick cloying gas filled the air, knocking the two men below them out with ease. Casper, still holding his breath,  
jumped down from the balcony and picked up the two rebels. His rubbery legs had absorbed most of the shock, leaving him unhurt. Several seconds later, Maggie appeared from the stairwell, slightly out of breath.

"Nice of you to wait for me." Maggie said, grinning.

"Not as nice as the complications you added to this whole operation. To simply touch the pool itself would have worked much better." Her companion replied with a wry smile as they darted out the door and into one of the various back ways to a certain harbor.

39393939393939

Several blocks away in an almost deserted park, a small girl skipped ahead of the blond,  
bespecaled man apparently in charge of her. He was obviously unused to having small children about.

"Yay! We gonna go see the Ghostie now, are we, are we?" The little girl exclaimed, delighted with the park, play equipment and Tokyo in general.

"Er, not exactly Dolley. We're looking for a blong lady and a baby with blue hair, so you tell me as soon as you seem them." The man told the child.

"How come? Are they part of New Family too, Eric?" Dolley asked him excitedly.

"No, these are not nice people. We're just bringing them back to Black Ghost, nothing more. And after that, we can all go home, okay?" Eric replied slowly, trying to figure out how to explain something like this to a six year old. This would be so much easier if Dolley had been imbued with the same technology as Ivan Whiskey, the baby they were looking for. Poor Dolley had been taken from her family after an 'accidental' fire at age three. Still, she had all the innocence of a normal child, affectionally referring to Black Ghost as 'The Ghostie' and had taken to calling the other cyborgs her 'New Family'.

Well, except for Jack.

"Hey, what's that?"

A shout from Dolley snapped Eric out of his thoughts. He looked up to see the girl racing down the path and quickly ran after her. He quickly caught up with her, as she had stopped to talk to a young blond woman with a baby sleeping beside her. Eric mentally hit his forehead with the heel of his hand. Dolley must have been looking for the renegade cyborgs after he gave her the description, and inaverdantly discovered them. Eric just hoped 001 didn't wake up, or things could get messy.

Meanwhile, Francoise, pleasantly suprised but a little wary at the arrival of the small girl with a odd looking doll who kept staring so intently at her, attempted to strike up a conversation with her.

"Um, hello there. That's a very interesting doll you have there. It's not like any toy I've ever seen." Francoise said, smiling at the girl. There was something about the plaything that seemed oddly familiar, and yet so alien at the same time.

"He isn't a TOY. He's Jack." The girl informed her coldly.

"Oh. Well, where did you get it-er, HIM from?" Francoise replied, taken aback.

But before the child could answer, both she and Jack slowly rose into the air.

"001? W-what are you doing?" Francoise cried, recognizing the toddler's telekinetic abilities at once. Ivan only used his powers when those around him were in danger, but this was only a little girl and her doll!

"Dolley! Hey! Hold on for a second!"

A shout from a few feet away caused Francoise to look up. A blond man was rushing towards them, but he was too late. In the time it took for Francoise to look away, Jack had grown to the size of a full grown oak, with Dolley sitting in the middle of his palm, scowling. With a growing fear in the pit of her stomach, Francoise realized just what Jack reminded her of. In one fluid move, Jack's other hand scooped up the other two cyborgs,  
breaking 001's telekinetic powers and sending them all to the ground.

"Well, I was hoping we could try this with a bit more tact, but this'll have to do." The blond man said, standing in front of them.

"They attacked me! Not my fault." Dolley shouted stubbornly from atop Jack.

"Let us go! Just because you've got 0013's abilities doesn't mean you have to obey Black Ghost too!" Francoise's voice interrupted them, bordering on panic.

"Actually, Miss Arnout, Dolley and Jack are a more advanced version of 0013's skills. But that really doesn't matter. Just come with us and everything will be fine." Eric told her calmly.

"Go where? You can't just walk off like this! You're in public, don't you think this'll attract a little attention?" Francoise shouted down at him.

"Which was why I didn't want to have to use Jack if at all possible. But that can't be helped now." Eric said with infuriating calmness.

"The baby tried to lift me an' Jack up in the air, Eric! I don't like her." Dolley pouted from atop Jack.

"Listen to me! You don't have to do this! Black Ghost is nothing but evil!" Francoise persisted.

Both of the other cyborgs seemed to go blank for a moment at this. Just as suddenly, however, they changed back.

"Don't be ridiculous. Dolley, put them down. We'll have to walk to the Seabird." Eric said to Francoise coldly, a sudden change from his calm, know-it-all attitude the minute before. Seeing no way out, Francoise picked up 001 and followed the two cyborgs(and the now much smaller Jack).

39393939393939

Indira Taner looked out over the bridge and into the water. She was in a public garden,  
and a very nice one at that. From what she had seen of Japan so far in their little excursion, this seemed to be normal. But that didn't really matter. She was just here looking for someone named Albert Heinrich. One last person and she didn't have to have anything to do with Black Ghost ever again. Plus, the garden was mercifully empty. There was a reason that only she was here. Her abilities worked best one-on-one. That and nine didn't divide equally.

The sound of two men talking nearby caused Indira to look up. A silver haired man was talking to an older gentleman over by a tree. That was a little weird, but Sevro had said something about an old man. Besides, witnesses would not be a good thing to have.

"Whatever you say, Dr. Gilmore. I just don't think Black Ghost is done for good." Albert told his smaller companion firmly.

"Well" Gilmore began as a low rumbling from below the surface of the earth interrupted them.

"An earthquake?" Albert asked, leaning against the tree for balance.

"Worse." The doctor replied tightly, pointing at the tree 004 was leaning on. What had at first appeared to be a simple knothole was now a gaping mouth filled with razor sharp teeth.

The cyborg yanked his hand away seconds before the mouth closed.

"Something's not right here..." Albert muttered under his breath, casting a wary eye around their surroundings for any more unpleasant 'suprises'.

He didn't have long to wait. A boulder the size of a Great Dane sitting by a nearby pond suddenly started to slide towards them at a frightening speed. If it hit them, the results would not be pretty.

Both men started to run from the rock, but ended up tripping over a tree root 50 feet from the nearest plant, catapulting them into the koi pond. While the German just got a faceful of water and a bruised ego, Gilmore's head crashed into one of the rocks surrounding the pond.

"You and your unconscious friend are coming with me. Quietly. Unless you'd like another rock attack..?"

004 spun around to see a slender Indian woman standing behind him. She would have been quite pretty if not for the dangerous look on her face at the moment. He could already tell that it would be a good idea to listen to her. At least, for now.

"Any particular place?" Albert asked her, running one hand over his metallic hand. One wrong move on her part and Albert wouldn't have a choice but to fire a few warning shots.

"Just down to the harbor to meet up with friends."

* * *

_Well, that's the last of them! Our mini recap:_

_Maggie DeLuca(0025): Can change the material of whatever she touches into something else(water to iron, grass to pencils, ect.). Gio's sister.  
Casper Radhen(0028): Can strech any part of his body, internal organs included. Based on 007's technology.  
Dolley Krol(0020): Her doll, Jack, can grow to astonishing heights in oder to destroy the enemy and listens to only 0020's commands. Based on 0013's technology.  
Eric Brekke(0021): Designed for information gathering rather than actual fighting, he learns new things much quicker and easier than a normal person and has a perfect memory.  
Indira Taner(0027): Can modify reality to fit her current needs._

_R&R please!_


	4. Chapter 4: Discussions And Deceptions

_A/N: ACK! I can't believe I made you all wait again like this! Especially after I said I'd update more regularly, too!_

_002: You really are good at sticking to your goals, do you know that?_

_:sweatdrops: Eheheheh...By the way, telepathic thoughts will be in italics from now on since this is the first chapter 001 has a speaking part in._

_002: Yeah, THAT'S going to happen, right after the Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypse ride in to review this story._

_Disclaimer: I own nothing, save for an amazing ability to take nearly a month to write a few pages of text._

_

* * *

_

"Unhh..."

With a groan, 002 opened his eyes to find himself in a small cabin that was eerily reminiscent of the living quarters aboard the Dolphin along with the rest of the 00-Cyborgs. However, this version was..off, somehow.

"_Oh good, you're awake." _001's thoughts drifted into his head.

"Why does it matter? The only thing that's going to happen to us at this point is that Black Ghost is going to murder us all in cold blood, since his newest assassins didn't even try." 002 grumbled morbidly.

"Are you sure? You've got a big lump in the middle of your forehead." 005 informed the American.

"Still, they got rid of us so easily!" 004 exclaimed, a frown crossing the German's face.

"I don't know about THAT, but they were definitely different than everyone else who's come after us before." 007 mused, recalling the more, ah, 'creative' powers of the two he and 006 had squared off against.

"_Yes...I got a quick look at the blond man's mind, and there was some sort of mental filter set up there. The little girl had the same thing, and the others are probably the same way. However, I have no idea if it's self inflicted or a product of Black Ghost's tinkering."_ 001 broke in seriously.

"Yes, that WOULD make sense, but why would anyone willingly block out their own thoughts?" 003 inquired.

"To forget their past." 004 replied tightly as a strained silence fell over the small group, the conversation bringing up painful memories, both of Black Ghost and of their own pasts.

* * *

Meanwhile, the third generation of cyborgs were in the middle of a discussion of their own. 

"There's something fishy about this whole thing." Tabby announced to the others from her position on a small bench near the entrance to the living quarters where the rebels were being held. Thanks to Tegan and Eric's abilities, the two of them could fly the ship Black Ghost had lent them without the help of the others.

"That's a bit obvious, but how else are we going to get away from Black Ghost?" Nick asked her rather irritably. Gio tended to have that effect on most people.

"Everything ABOUT Black Ghost and his cronies is fishy. He might be evil, but at the moment we don't really get a say in the matter. Unless of course you'd like to return to Storage..?" Maggie stated calmly.

Tabby glared at her. "So the ends justify the means, huh? Even if these people ARE crazy, I wouldn't wish Storage on anyone. Besides, why would Black Ghost let multi-million dollar technology just slip away like this?"

"Ok, so how do you suggest we get out of this mess? Nine people versus God knows how many troops are not good odds, even if we do have powers lifted from a bad sci-fi movie." Nick retorted sharply.

"Miss Morrow is right. Good cannot come from the sacrifice of a person, no matter who they are or what purpose they serve." Casper told him softly as Nick rolled his eyes.

"Black Ghost may be crazy, but he isn't stupid. At the risk of sounding cliched, this feels like a set-up." Indira chimed in.

"Whatever you say. It still sounds CRAZY..." Nick said, throwing up his hands.

Before anyone else could react, an explosion rocked the entire ship.

"This shouldn't be happening! The only group with that kind of aircraft arsenal would be Black Ghost, but why would he fire on us?" Eric wondered aloud from the controls as another explosion rattled the ship, completely frying the control panels and sending powerful electrical currents through the length of the airship.

"Three guesses, and the first two don't count! That asshole double-crossed us!"Gio shouted,trying to stay upright without being barbecued by the wiring system(although it was a losing battle).

A voice crackled out faintly from a battered intercom unit near the front panel. "This is Colonel Ecarte of the craft Impaler. State your identification and why you are using one of Black Ghost's aircraft without permission or be destroyed!"

"This is the Seabird. We have a deal with Captain Sevro for the use of this ship in order to recapture the 00-Cyborg Soldier experiments." Tegan informed the colonel icily, coming out of her trance-like state.

"Do you take me for a fool? I know who you amateurs are. Sevro, or anyone else for that matter, would never strike a deal with the likes of YOU. Now get down here NOW, before we take over that vessel by force, cyborg!" The intercom thundered as the cyborgs sat in stunned shock.

Black Ghost had always been in control of their lives, and as a giant magnetic hook came down from the Impaler to take them back, he was beginning to seem inescapable, no matter what they did.

* * *

_R&R now please! Thanks!_


	5. Chapter 5: Escape And Allies

_A/N: Ok, anyone still READING this fanfic has my official permission to throw large, heavy objects at my head! It's been over a MONTH since my last chapter! I can't believe it!_

_002: I could say something, but it's too easy._

_:death glare: You have no say in the matter, your opinion doesn't count. In any case, I'm SO sorry for making everyone wait like this! There's only one or two more chapters after this though, so I'll try to post them a lot sooner!_

_002: Keyword there being 'try'._

_Disclaimer: Alas, I am penniless when it comes to anime rights! Or rather quarterless, I've got a huge jar of pennies sitting right next to me. And yes, I had to use the word 'alas'. It's a writer thing._

* * *

The nine newer cyborgs sat gloomily in the same depressing room they had left. The mood was, if anything, even more despondent than before.

"I should've guessed. If we learned anything from World War II, it's that you can't make deals with madmen." Nick groaned, leaning back against the stark white walls.

"According to Black Ghost's research files, we were the first generation of cyborgs to be fitted with compliance chips, so we couldn't rebel like the others. The first set of files were deliberately doctored in the hopes I'd check up on them. This was all one huge set-up, and we fell for it. Hard." Tegan announced, closing her slim laptop.

"I see. So the people we found had done nothing wrong except break away from their 'creator'." Casper replied sadly, sliding his rosary between his fingers.

"Basically. However, the good news is that those electrical currents that hit the Seabird when we were in the air could have easily shorted out the chips. But since there's a very good chance we'll be stuck in here until we die, it doesn't really matter." Tegan added with a sigh.

"Wow, what great news. Just our luck too." Maggie muttered under her breath. The gloomy mood was contagious.

"Those other guys, they're being held in this base, right?" Tabby spoke up suddenly. She had been strangely quiet the entire way back.

"...I suppose so..." Eric answered, taken rather aback by the odd question.

"Ok then, that makes things easier." Tabby said nonchalantly, standing up.

"Wait a minute, what're you trying to do?" Maggie asked the younger girl suspiciously, knowing a stupid idea when she saw one.

"I'm just gonna set things right, like Casper's always saying we should be doing." Tabby said defensively, holding up both hands while simultaneously stepping towards the door.

"Tabby..." Indira began warningly, but the other cyborg had already slipped through the door and out into the hall.

"Huh. Always knew you were a bad influence on her." Gio remarked to Casper.

With a long suffering sigh, Tegan also stood up.

"Oh no. I know that look, you're going to go after her!" Nick told Tegan sternly.

"We have to! She's one of us, and we can't let her go get killed. Besides, the chips were really the only things stopping us from leaving. The door'll fall in seconds." Tegan shot back.

"Yeah, that and the hoards of soldiers just waiting for something to shoot at! She's a walking target out there!" Maggie added.

"C'mon, she just a kid. Besides, I'm gonna go crazy if I have to stay in here for much longer." Gio chimed in earnestly.

"Fine! Just remember this for when we're surrounded by Black Ghost's minions!" Nick shouted. Even if this was the stupidest plan he'd ever heard, Tabby was right for once. And he really needed a good stretch, too.

"Yay!" Dolley shouted ecstatically as Jack grew to nearly ten feet high and kicked the door in.

"Well, THAT'S certainly an auspicious start..." Casper muttered to himself as they followed the little girl out into a quickly growing group of confused minions.

* * *

Elsewhere in the base, Tabby was wandering around the base, having gotten lost several feet from their own holding cell. To make up for this, she had stuck her head through every door she passed, which had resulted in a rather large contingent of minions chasing her, among other things. But a large explosion somewhere behind her had caught their attention, and so the young cyborg had gone back to the door theory. However, to avoid further suspicion, she had started walking along the ceiling. This made it rather hard to reach doors though, an effective paradoxical situation.

"Stupid Black Ghost! Who needs this many doors?" Tabby grumbled to herself as she came into a room with a great many hallways leading out from it in all directions.

"...Crap."

As she pondered which hall to choose, a group of soldiers ran through into one of the hallways, shouting to each other.

"Come ON! Pick up the pace! The rest of the squadron are already there with the prisoners!" One shouted as he ran past.

With a shrug, the cyborg followed them to their destination. Tabby had always been an impulsive person anyway.

* * *

"Great. Black Ghost is not only evil, he's a cheapskate." 004 grumbled from the newest prison cell Black Ghost had herded them into. Literally.

"The captives should be safe from the emergency here! Now if only we knew where the rest of our squadron is!" A muffled voice from outside cried.

"Whatever the circumstances, just be thankful Black Ghost still considers us valuable enough to be saved from whatever this new emergency is." 001 lectured him, a rather odd experience considering 001's physical appearance.

"Does it matter? We're still prisoners, and there's no way Black Ghost will let us escape again." 004 muttered half to himself, staring mournfully at the tight iron bands locked around his hands and knees. Black Ghost had taken special measures to ensure than none of them could use their powers and escape. Again.

"Something will come along, it always has before. This 'emergency' thing could be just the distraction we need!" 006 declared, trying look on the bright side of their rather dim looking situation.

"Oh, and I suppose any minute now someone will come by, stick their head through the door and offer us a way out, huh?" 002 sniped skeptically as the others lapsed into silence, the bare white room not having a pleasant effect on morale. Black Ghost's various hideouts were not their idea of a good time.

Outside, the faint sounds of what could have been (and indeed was) a very one-sided fight could be heard, then abruptly stopped. Suddenly, a young girl's head popped through the steel door, looking around curiously. Naturally, this caused the nine cyborgs to jump.

"Finally found this place! ...Hey, this is only a few feet from where Storage was! I HATE this place!" The head said, sounding rather annoyed.

009 was the first to realize what was going on. "You little..! Black Ghost sent you to finish us off, didn't you? I'll bet YOU'RE that 'emergency' everyone's so worried about!"

"...What's with you? None of the guards saw me. Well, at least the ones that are conscious right now didn't see me." The head responded, sounding puzzled.

"Really, 002. What ARE you talking about?" 008 asked his companion.

"She's one of those other cyborgs, the ones that captured us!" 002 shouted, his short temper rising considerably. Naturally, all the other cyborgs started talking at once. That is, until the head suddenly disappeared from the door.

* * *

With a hard yank, Nick and Tegan pulled their young friend from the door.

"Tabby! What the hell are you trying to pull here!" Nick shouted angrily, holding the girl up by her shirt collar.

"That HURT, jerk! You coulda just tapped me on the shoulder or something!" Tabby glared at the pair standing in front of her balefully.

"That's not the point! Didn't you stop to think about this at all before you went through the door?" Nick berated her.

"It was a good idea in theory! Besides, we're all fine." Tabby protested.

"In theory, communism works! And we're now all being hunted by Black Ghost's goons when we blew up the door to look for you! The others are all back 'dealing' with the situation!" Nick snapped.

"So break THIS door down and enlist the other cyborgs. If they really are rebels, they'll be glad to help bring down Black Ghost." Tegan said calmly, speaking up for the first time.

Nick and Tabby both turned to stare at her.

"Yay! Good idea!" Tabby shouted after several seconds as she plunged one hand into the inner mechanism of the lock and began to feel around.

"Oh no. No, no, no. Not yay! Not more people getting involved..!" Nick moaned, putting his face in his hands as the lock literally exploded with a loud _click_.

"See? Good idea, unlike Communism. That was a low blow, my friend." Tabby told him, smirking as the two of them launched into another argument. With a sigh, Tegan cleared off what used to be a door and started to remove the various restraints on the cyborgs.

"Look, I hate to sound ungrateful, but we have no idea what's going on, who you are, what you want, or even if we can trust you– " 009 began hesitantly, the entire scene proving even more confusing than usual when they dealt with Black Ghost.

"First off, you can't trust us, but we can't trust you either. Secondly, you're being offered a chance to help bring down Black Ghost and maybe even convince some of us to join you. Thirdly, you don't really get a choice, so I suggest you follow us instead of waiting to be picked up by minions, seeing as how we're currently all after the same thing." Tegan told him bluntly.

"She's right, you know. We might as well help now and ask questions later." 004 said with a sigh as he stretched out his cramped muscles.

"That seems to be the way we've always done it anyway." 007 added, getting up to follow the rapidly receding Nick and Tabby along with the rest of the cyborgs.

* * *

_Whew! Hope the extra long chapter sort of makes up for the wait! R&R now! Thanx! _


	6. Chapter 6: Leaving

_A/N: ...Oops. I apologize(again, I know) for putting off the story for so long. For one, I've had a lot of schoolwork and tests and crap, plus I had an attack of Writers' Block halfway through this chapter, AND I got distracted by an idea for a new story(yes, that's my shameless plug. Look for it if you like One Piece.) However, this IS the final chapter of the story. Hope you enjoy it!_

_AnimeDarkRain: Thanks so much! Sorry about the wait between chapters, I meant to continue sometime... ;;_

_002: And since TopazCat seems to be too busy, I'll say the disclaimer for her, being the nice person that I am: The author of this fanfiction does not own any characters, plot ideas, sense of responsibility or any cyborg powers to date._

* * *

009 massaged his forehead wearily. After all that had happened recently, he wasn't quite sure what to make of these new cyborgs. 

For one thing, those that he'd met so far seemed to have no unity amongst themselves, and were even less organized. Black Ghost must have been getting pretty desperate with these guys. However, he and his friends didn't really have a choice in the matter.

One of them, the same cyborg who had captured him before, noticed the look on his face.

"Sorry about all this mess, but Tabby is not only stubborn but impulsive too. Besides, none of this was by choice." Tegan said, smiling apologetically.

"It doesn't really matter, anyway. We just steal some airplane or something and fly off. Hopefully, Black Ghost'll get the hint this time around." 006 cut in. Apparently the odd goings-on had not dampened his inherent enthusiasm.

"I doubt things will be that easy. This IS Black Ghost we're talking about, I don't think he'd let us walk away without a few casualties." 004 said soberly.

"You have no idea. Just thinking about what we're supposed to do about all of this is making my head hurt." Nick groaned, his head in his hands.

"Yeah, well, we can't put this off any longer. Black Ghost's been wrecking my life for much too long." 002 declared.

Nick snorted. Obviously, the man had never been in Storage before.

"There's some kind of battle going on up ahead." 003 suddenly announced, her acute hearing easily picking up the sounds of a scuffle.

"Good. The sooner we find the others, the sooner we can leave–for good this time." Tegan decided, picking up the pace as they hurried down the long corridor.

Suddenly, an empty suit of Black Ghost-issue battle armor jumped out at them. Not that it mattered. The jumpy cyborgs turned it into a smoking heap of ash in seconds. Gio chose that moment to stick his head around the corner to see exactly what was going on.

"Oh good, I was beginning to wonder if you got caught or something." Gio said, his face brightening as he surveyed the assembled group of cyborgs approvingly.

"Where is everyone else?" 004 asked urgently. The dark haired cyborg looked tired, although you wouldn't know it by the pile of unconscious minions stacked up against the wall.

"Further along, closer to the hangar. We got attacked by a group of minions. Not very tough, but we were heavily outnumbered, so I headed off to find you. Apparently some of the minions must've followed me, so I had to do something about it." Gio explained, leaning heavily against the wall.

"Better not keep 'em waiting, then and use the shortcut." Tabby said.

"The shortcut?" 005 asked curiously. Black Ghost's decorating style did not leave much space for shortcuts and the like, ignoring every evil-base design rule in the book.

"Yep." Tabby responded cheerfully, grabbing hold of the other cyborgs and sliding through the wall, towing her friends. All of them came out on the other side fine, albeit much paler.

They were now in a huge grey hangar, surrounded by ships, tanks and other assorted weaponry. However, the remaining cyborgs were surrounded by a huge group of minions, fighting for their lives. Naturally, everyone wasted no time in leveling the playing field a bit.

Between random explosions, morphing scenery and general chaos, the minions scattered. After all, they weren't paid nearly enough to afford getting maimed by angry cybernetic soldiers.

"Which ship?" 009 shouted over the sounds of retreating minions.

"That one, it's the only one big enough and fast enough to ensure our escape. Well, the only one that hasn't been blown up already." Eric answered him, making a beeline towards the aforementioned airship.

Before he could get much farther, however, the entire building began to rumble omniously, throwing Eric to the ground.

"Did you really think I'd let you get as far as the hangar without a little suprise? Personally, so long as I get rid of you fools, I couldn't care less about my ships! " Black Ghost's voice rang out tauntingly over the intercom.

"You don't think that..." 003 gasped.

"Black Ghost placed a bomb? Of course he did, the show-off.." Maggie finished, rubbing her forehead tiredly.

"So how are we supposed to get out of here, if this place is going to explode? We wouldn't stand a chance!" 002 exploded.

Suddenly, a large booster engine appeared on the airship. In fact, the entire craft was surrounded by a shimmering bubble.

"Well? What are you waiting for? We'll deal with Black Ghost, you go on ahead." Indira told them, her mouth a strained line as she struggled to keep the booster and shield bubble up.

"Go now. Black Ghost will never allow all of us to escape, but he'll have to deal with us if we stay." Casper told them gravely.

004 hesitated for a moment, then started running for the ship. "They're right. At least some of us should get out of here now, there might not be a better moment."

Nodding, the 00-Cyborgs followed. The ship lurched upward, then shot away from the base at top speed. From the rear window, 003 could see the smoke and flames rising from the hangar.

"They've still got a fair chance. That bomb probably wasn't big enough to do too much damage; Black Ghost wouldn't endanger his entire base." 007 told her, putting one hand on her shoulder.

"Still. It seems like every other cyborg we meet ends up dead..." 003 said softly.

"No use worrying about it. We have no idea what happened." 005 added sensibly.

Taking one last look out the window, 003 thought she saw a rather ragged group of dots heading away from the remains of the hangar. But that was ridiculous. After all, they were only super-human cyborgs...

* * *

_Whew! Well, that's the end of it. Sorry the ending's not very cheerful, but I like to keep you all guessing. Hope to hear from you all on my next story!_


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